Hey there,

I want to talk with you for a sec about what Hey Jillian is about. It’s about two kinds of moments.

The first kind feels like: The calm smile that crosses your face when you walk into a room in your home that feels right. The loosening of anxiety when you put on an outfit that really works for you. The relief of not worrying at the end of the day what to make for dinner, because you’ve got your sh*t together this week. These kind of moments are the nice-to-haves.

And the second kind? The moment you realize you’ve been talking to a someone you love for hours and have both been entirely present the whole time. The feeling when you read something you could have written about your own life, and find out how much you needed to hear it from someone else. The sense of total amazement when your kid does something beautiful that gives you an inkling your parenting is going okay. When you stumble or crawl your way to a hard-earned epiphany about how your inner workings impact your life; when you find out an action you took helped someone out when they needed it most; when an unplanned gathering of friends turns into a top ten night of your life. It’s in these moments we co-create magic.

The first kind, the nice-to-haves, they are just that, they’re nice to have, but sometimes we forget they aren’t prerequisites to magic. The perfect night with friends doesn’t happen because of your decorating. Your kid doesn’t blow your mind with their kindness because you fed them nutritionally complete organic meals on a schedule. The perfect date doesn’t happen because of your outfit. Your favorite friend’s house to relax at isn’t necessarily the cleanest one.

My house will never be finished, and it will probably never be entirely clean. I have to accept that it’s unlikely I will ever own the perfect pair of tights. I may never fully master grocery shopping as an art. But I give great advice, and I take a lot of my own. I have a small family of three, and we live in an expensive, small New England city on a very modest income. We’re always finagling. There’s always a new angle to figure out. My passion is connecting through writing; sharing what works, sharing what’s not working; sharing what’s real.

None of us will (or should) ever have it all together, but the nice-to-haves are well, nice. I will help you work towards nice, but keep the magic in mind.